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One of the best ways to save energy (and money) in your home is to do a few simple energy efficient adjustments to your home’s hot water heating system. The best thing about these tweaks is that they are easy to do and can usually be done in an afternoon. For an even bigger value, grab the kids and make this a family project!
Adjust Your Hot Water Heater’s Temperature Setting:
Most water heaters have their thermostats (the device that regulates water temperature)set at ridiculously high temperatures. This causes four major problems:
Problem #1: You run the risk of your family or friends burning their skin.
Problem #2: You shorten the lifespan of your water heater due to it running more frequently.
Problem #3: It takes more energy to heat the water to a higher temperature.
Problem #4: The hotter the water, the more heat you will lose due to inefficient insulation.
Most home water heaters will perform best when set between 115-125 degrees. If you are not sure how to properly adjust your hot water heater, ask a family member or friend for help.
If you are concerned about your dishwasher’s cleaning performance, many newer machines have a built-in heat booster that will automatically increase the temperature of the water in your machine to maximize the cleaning and sanitation of your dishes. I used to think that this feature was a waste of energy, but now I understand why it is becoming more and more standard even on Energy Star Rated models. It’s more efficient to turn down your water heater and let the dishwasher self regulate, then to keep the water heater cranked up all of the time.
Depending on the age and efficiency rating of your hot water heater, every 10 degrees you lower the water’s temperature setting will result in 3-5% savings in energy.
Install a Hot Water Heater Blanket or “Jacket”:
Even the newest energy efficient water heaters can benefit from the installation of an additional layer of insulation. Hot water heater blankets can be purchased at most home improvement stores for about $15-20.
Insulate Your Hot Water Piping:
One of the things that I noticed in my home was the water heater was located on the opposite side of my kitchen and bathrooms. This created long runs where the hot water lines were being run through my unheated basement.
I knew we were wasting hot water because after the lines had set idle for a while it would take a couple of minutes for new “hot water” to circulate from the tank, across the basement, and up into the kitchen and bathrooms.
This energy loss can be reduced by simply wrapping the exposed hot water lines with insulation. Again, this material is readily available at most home improvement stores. The material to insulate my hot water lines would cost about $30 today.
Potential Energy Savings?
Depending on the age and efficiency rating of your water heater, your actual energy savings will vary. With that said, even the newest hot water heaters will benefit from any of the above recommendations.
Related Articles:
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Do It Yourself (DIY) Geothermal Cooling System
Should You Pre-Buy Your Home Heating Oil This Year?
Do It Yourself Home Energy Audits
36 Ways to Reduce Your Home’s Energy Use
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Good post, I especially agree with the comment regarding the benefits of insulating your hot water piping. By the way, insulating your cold water pipes is a good idea also, not so much for any energy savings but to help prevent pipe “sweat” on humid days. On humid days, condensation will build up on your cold water pipes just like your glass of ice tea will sweat. So much condensation can build up that it will actually start to drip. If you have a finished ceiling in your basement it may appear like you have leak.
Anyway, back to the water heater. The factory preset temperature for most water heaters is 120 degrees. It used to be 140 but was reduced to help prevent scalding and to also reduce the legal risks to the manufacturers and sellers if someone got burned. While 120 degrees will help reduce scalding injuries, it has brought with it a new problem. The new problem is that water stored below 133 degrees can allow harmful bacteria to grow in the tank. The one getting a lot of press lately is the Legionnaires bacteria. Legionnaires can grow in water temps between 55 and 133 but 68 to 122 is the real sweet spot for growth. The problem has been exacerbated by homeowners reducing the 120 factory preset even further, in some cases down to just 100. There are other factors that need to be present in your heater for Legionnaires (Ph level, a sediment buildup and lack of proper circulation) but too low of a temperature setting is the leading cause. Don’t get carried away with lowering the water temp. It’s better to keep it high (130ish) and be extra careful. When running a tap, start with cold water and then slowly warm it by adding hot. Too many people do the opposite, they start with hot and then look to chill it down by adding cold.
Very nice article. I couldn’t agree more about turning the hot water temperature dial down. I kind of wish they made programmable water heater dials. Jaci and I are not home about 9 hours of the day and we sleep for another 7 to 8 hours. It would be nice if the water heater simply stopped heating the water altogether during those times and would kick back on in the evenings and early mornings.
Forgot to ask: Do you put any stock into the new-age “tankless” water heaters?
hey – just an FYI for you all out there – water heater ‘blankets’ or insulatin is a waste of your money – it saves nothing – if you feel your water heater, there is NO heat loss happening – and you will NOT see a reflection in your electric/gas bill to make up for the blanket – it’s a gimmick. I have been in the home repair business for years, even spent some time in ‘big box’ stores that sell these items – a waste of your money!! Insulating pipes, on the other hand, is a great use of money for reasons several have mentioned, in addition to the ‘bursting’ of pipes in winter months.